The No. 10 men’s water polo team enjoyed a terrific weekend, sweeping the four games it played in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. It defeated Santa Clara Friday and Fresno Pacific and San Jose State Saturday before pulling out a 12-11 overtime nail-biter over No. 20 Loyola Marymount early Sunday.
“Our defense really stood out,” said Tommy Bush ’18. “It came together and propelled us to the wins this weekend.”
“It was a group effort,” Bush added. “We’re peaking at the right time.”
The Bears (16-6, 4-1 NWPC) defeated the host Broncos (8-11, 2-1) Friday night by a score of 13-7. They jumped out to a 7-2 first quarter lead, an advantage they never relinquished. The offense came from a number of different sources, with four players scoring multiple goals.
Brown put forth another impressive effort Saturday, winning both games of its doubleheader schedule. Bruno dominated Fresno Pacific (8-14, 1-5), winning 15-2. The team got off to a quick start, scoring the game’s first 11 goals. Hudson Rawlings ’20 led with three goals while five other players — Bush, Warren Smith ’17, Austin Hwang ’18, Tyler Kirchberg ’18 and Armen Deirmenjian ’20 — scored twice.
The next game was a far closer affair, as Brown defeated the Spartans (7-14, 0-2) by a score of 8-5. San Jose State took an early lead, tallying the first quarter’s only goal, but the Bears responded with two second-quarter scores. The two teams went back and forth in the third quarter, and Brown entered the fourth with a one-goal lead. The Bears were able to pull away with a 3-0 run midway through the final quarter. Jake Wyatt ’17 was the big scorer in the game, recording five goals. Goalkeeper Luke Weiser ’17 notched an impressive 10 saves.
After a long couple of days, the Bears had one last game Sunday against Loyola Marymount. The two teams traded goals in the first quarter, entering the second quarter tied 3-3. Brown appeared to gain control of the game when it outscored LMU 4-1 in the second period, taking a 7-4 lead into halftime. But LMU rallied and took a 10-9 lead late in the fourth quarter, with only a minute and 11 seconds remaining.
Brown tied the game in stunning and dramatic fashion only seconds later with a goal from Kirchberg, sending the game into overtime. LMU took an early lead, but Brown battled back with two goals, one by Luke Irwin ’17 and another from Kirchberg, for the 12-11 win.
With their four-game undefeated appearance at the Santa Clara Invitational, the Bears extended their current winning streak to 10 games. The streak dates all the way back to their Oct. 2 win against St. Francis.
The Bears look to continue their success this Wednesday against Connecticut College. “We don’t want to lose another game for the rest of the season,” Bush said. “Our goal is to be the number one seed.”
